Isa Craig Knox
Isa Craig Knox (Oct. 17, 1831 - Dec. 23, 1903) was a Scottish poet and fiction writer."Biography," Selected Poetry of Isa Craig Knox (1831-1903), Representative Poetry Online, University of Toronto, UToronto.ca, Web, Nov. 30, 2011. Life Knox was born Isa Craig in Edinburgh, the only child of Anne (Braick) and John Craig, a hosier and glover. In childhood she lost both parents, and was raised by her grandmother, leaving school in her 10th year.Bayne, 409. A close study of standard English authors developed literary tastes; and, after contributing verses to the Scotsman under the signature "Isa," she was regularly employed on the paper in 1853. Coming to London in 1857 she was appointed secretary to the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, and held the position until she married, in May 1866, her cousin, John Knox, an iron merchant of London. In 1858 she won with a resonant ode a prize of 50l. offered at the Crystal Palace for a centenary poem on Burns. There were 621 candidates, including Frederic William Henry Myers, Gerald Massey, and Arthur Joseph Munby. In the 1850s, she worked for the International and Electric Telegraph Company as matron supervising women telegraph operators. Then in 1860, she and Maria Rye, an English social reformer, established The Telegraph School, with hopes of promoting women’s employment.Isa Craig (1831-1903), Scottish Women Poets, University of Victoria. Wordpress, Web, Feb. 16, 2017. In 1866 she married her cousin, John Knox, an ironmonger. The couple had one daughter, Margaret. After her marriage she contributed occasionally to Fraser's Magazine, Good Words, and the Quiver, edited the Argosy for a short time, and published some volumes of poems and juvenile histories. She died at Brockley, Suffolk. Writing In verse Mrs. Knox produced nothing that surpassed the Burns ode. Her first volume, Poems by Isa (1866), showed some promise, and some lyric quality appeared in Poems: An offering to Lancashire (1863); Duchess Agnes: A drama; and other poems (1864); and Songs of Consolation (1874). A.H. Japp edited a Selection from Mrs. Knox's Poems in 1892. Of Mrs. Knox's prose work, The Essence of Slavery (1863) summarised F.A. Kemble's Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation, and Esther West (1870; 6th edit. 1884) was a well-constructed story. Mrs. Knox's Little Folk's History of England (1872) reached 30,000 copies in print in 1899, and the author adapted from it a successful Easy History for Upper Standards (1884). Tales on the Parables, 2 series, appeared in 1872 and 1877. Publications Poetry * Poems by Isa. Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood, 1856. *''Poems: An offering to Lancashire''. London: Emily Faithfull, Printer & Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty, at Victoria Press, 1863. * Duchess Agnes, a drama, and other poems. London: Alexander Strahan, 1864. * Songs of Consolation, London: Macmillan, 1874. Fiction *''Esther West: A story. London & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1870. *''In Duty Bound. New York: Harper, 1870. *''Tales on the Parables''. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1872?. (5 stories also published and sold separately:) **''Seed-Time and Harvest. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1872?. **The Cumberer of the Ground. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1872?. **''The Good Samaritan. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1872?. **''Lost Silver. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1872?. **''The Pearl. *''Tales on the Parables: Second series''. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1873?. (5 stories, also published and sold separately:) **''Yes or No?'' London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1872?. **''The Covetous Man. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1873?. **Leaven. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1873?. **The Debtors. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1873?. **Old Garments. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1873?. *Deepdale Vicarage. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1876. *''The Half-Sisters. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1876? *''Hold Fast by Your Sundays. London: Home Words, 1889. Non-fiction *''An Appeal to the Women of the United kingdom by Women: On a subject demanding immediate attention. London: Houlston & Wright, 1860. Juvenile *''The Little Folks' History of England''. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1875. *''Easy History for Upper Standards''. London: Cassell, 1884. Edited *''The Essence of Slavery'' (edited from Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation by Fanny Kemble). London: Emily Faithful for the Ladies' London Emancipation Society, 1863. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Isa Craig Knox, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 14, 2013. See also * List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 16, 2017. Notes External links ;Poems * Selected Poetry of Isa Craig Knox (1831-1903) ("The Incarnation") at Representative Poetry Online *"The Woodruffe" in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895 * Isa Craig Knox at PoemHunter ("The Incarnation") *Knox in Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century: "Ode on the Centenary of Burns," "The Ballad of the Brides of Quair," "Never to Know," "The Woodruffe," "The Root of Love," "Wind and Stars," "A Greenness o'er My Vision Passed," "Thames," "Shadow" *Miscellaneous poems ;About * Isa Craig at GeraldMassey.org *Isa Craig (1831-1903) at Scottish Women Poets * Knox, Isa Category:1831 births Category:1903 deaths Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Scottish poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:19th-century women writers Category:Scottish women writers